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A Pasta Dish Straight From the Pantry

By Melissa Clark April 9, 2013 1:30 pmApril 9, 2013 1:30 pm

Photo

Credit Evan Sung for The New York Times

In What’s for Dinner?, a column appearing every other week on Diner’s Journal, Melissa Clark answers that universal question, offering recipes for simple, relatively quick dishes that use ingredients you can pick up on the way home.

Most everyone I know has a go-to after-work pasta dish. Be it as simple as spaghetti with jarred marinara sauce, or something far more exotic or involved, the steps have become so ingrained that the dish practically cooks itself.

This one is mine, the pasta I can cook on autopilot, even when I haven’t gone shopping. The backbone of flavor comes from pantry staples — a pungent mix of anchovies, garlic, chile flakes and capers, which gives pasta more than enough character for a satisfying dinner. Kale (or chard, spinach or other greens) bulks out the aromatics, adding a fresh, earthy flavor and enough vegetable content to turn it into a one-dish meal. As spring progresses, you could leave out the cooked greens and serve an arugula salad on the side.

The key to getting the proper depth of flavor here is to fry the garlic and capers until dark golden before adding the kale. The caramelization feels like as much of an ingredient as the anchovies, and it adds equal depth. This type of browning is a technique I learned from Andrew Feinberg of the restaurant Franny’s in Brooklyn, with whom I wrote a cookbook. His version of this dish, which he calls a white puttanesca (because there are no tomatoes), also includes olives. Sometimes I add them here as well.

It’s a pasta with endless variations once you master the basics. It just might become your go-to pasta as well.

Method

1. Bring a heavily salted pot of water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in the largest skillet you have. Add chiles and a pinch of salt and toast until golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Add smashed garlic, capers and anchovies. Let cook until everything is golden, the capers look crisp around the edges and the anchovies have dissolved into the oil, about 3 to 4 minutes. (You can help anchovies dissolve by mashing them with a wooden spoon as they cook.) Add kale and 2 tablespoons water and sauté until kale wilts and cooks in the pan and is well coated with oil, about 5 minutes. You might have to add more water if the water evaporates before the kale finishes cooking.

4. Add drained pasta and toss well. Add more salt if necessary and plenty of black pepper, and serve drizzled with more oil and a squeeze of lemon if the dish needs a lift. Cheese isn't necessary but if you like pecorino and have some on hand, feel free to shower it on top.